The journal of industry. [volume], October 09, 1880, Image 1

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Our Motto': "God will Help those who try to Help Themselves.
Single Coiy, 5 Cent
VOL. II.
RALEIGH, N. C, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1880.
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II II 1 1
ORATION BY HON. FREDRICK
DOUGLAS'S ON THE OCCASION
OF THE SECOND ANNUAL EX
POSITION OF THE COLORED
PEOPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA,
DELIVERED ON FRIDAY OCTO
BER 1 ST, 1830.
At tke CAticIuio of Gjt. JirvU' ad
dress, tke Master of Cereinoaies iatrc
daced ilit Honorable Fredenek Doug
lass, Marskai of the District of Column
bia. Mr. Douglass prefaced bis ad
dress by expreaeiug thw pleasure which
he felt at being called upon to eprak
to so large a coneourse of colored y en- '
tle, aJ his gratification at seeing the
Goreruor of the State present, aud
spbttki'Z such words of gym path and
Qiicourafcenient as he hud just heard.
tl said he hud found thiBgs quite dif
threat fr .di what he expected, aad that
(Jov. Jsrvis bad occupiad a good deal
of the fi di whiob h8 bad intended to
nuke his ovrn. Ifi wp-wcia was iuter-spjM-ned
with inaaj amusing anecdotes
which our limited spao will not per
mit u to print in full. ilr. Douglass
spoke a follows :
Fellow Citizens, GistfTLEUiLN asd
Ladies :
I regret that I have ta bajio my ed
dres Uh an apology. The days hare
tetn few aod raj cnsgetncutK many,
iucv I was waited 'apo-i by oguiluu
ti'e of gentle uae a frr North Carolina,
representing this expceitioa, aud was
f riuiiily incited to nppaar in tin
place aud preseace ei:d deliver a ; ad--trffr-ppXWa.Sfd
U Jbi occasion. The
io;ft allotted fvr the piepiriitten and
tr.e ixiaaitud of the bubji-c: up-i
which you have desired rue to ep.-ak,
c.iUftd me soma t'njbarrsi)ei)i r;d
hv:d tLi at once to fcsk your kind in
dn luetic.
1 ata howt'vor, enc ourrtgd to pro
ceed by several coneiu'ertiutft : th
tii st is tbi I nave ol'Un found aaytclf
iu just mob c iron instances before. I
have frequently beu callerl up.m to do
tilings for which I had no special tiaia
iug or preparation.
Another encouraging fact is, that
lunvcvci unskillfully ur:d icnpr'.ectly,
I have been able to do my work, cay
judges have ev?r betn generous, if not
uhv.:ys just Tbey hatve measured my
flV'rts, not so much by their intrinsic
value as by the difficulties uud?r which
they were made. But no more of
apoogy.
Miuu to-day i a sure privile. No
aian iu this country was ever ealled
upt;u to address such a concourse of
newly emancipated people, as I ana
upon ibis occasion, i meet with you
to-day, at the starting point in the
race of mental, moral, social and ma-
terial progress. It is a groat circum
stance. For naore tham two centuries
you were cut off from the human race.
You were not recognized among the
rest of mankind, and the principles of
justice and liberty suppostd to apply
to other men, were not thought to be
applicable to ycu. Yon were regarded
and treatvd as standing outride the
circle of civilizatioa, aud of civilizing
forces. Having eyas, y oil were not ex
pected to see. Having ears, you were
not expected to hear. Having tongues,
you were not expected to speak. The
laws of the land elsssed yeu with bor
ses, sheep and swine; articles of sale
and barter, chattels personal, to all in
tends and purposes wbatsc-ever. Your
bodies, your bone8,yoar brains belonged
not to you, but to other men. Your
faculties and poweis were all the prop
erty and support of those who claimed
to own you, their thoughts are turned
to the change. Behold that chaoge !
How sudden, bow complete, how vast
and how woudenul is the transforma
tion? In viw of this tremendous revolu
tion, I feel less like dwelling on the
particular subject upon which I am
expected to speak, than calling upon
you to join me, in loud, earnest aud
long continued shouts of joy over our
newly acquired freedom.
The subject of agriculture is the
main and most importaat which can
claim our theugh ful attention. It is
one of the oldest upoa which men have
thought, spoken and written, and it
must therefore readily eccur to you
that there is little of originality to bo
expected iu what I may have to say
conceraing it. Genius itself, and I
ara no g&nius, would find it hard to
say anything new, edifying or striking
in it praiyw or iu its explanation.
I hav read over a number of agri
cultural addresses lately. I have get
little help from them. They are very
much hke bricks on the sarae wall, or
houses in Philadelphia, one is exactly
the counteipart of the other, only soma
are a tr.rle smalUr than others. Mine
to-day, should it g't into print, will lis
like the others, only a little smaller.
I think it is somewhat presumptive
in ma. any how, to speak here on this
subject at all. There are undoubtedly
hundreds of colored men ia North Car
olina who could tell yea more about
farming than I can. Ycu have among
you practical farmers and mechanic e
and others well qual fUd by experience
and observation, to teach intelligently
and effectively the conditions e9eatial
to success, in their various vocations.
The only trouble with theso is tbat
they live heie and ara easily attainable.
They have not to travel a thousand
miLs whon invited to speak and you
do cot have to travel a thouand miles
to invite them. it ever is, the
prophet is not v.ithout honor, save ia
his own. country.
'beu we consider the importance ef
agriculture, as tue souice and main
sprnjc of all other forms of industry,
that it .8 to all othsr forms of labor
wl at vr,oJ and coal ia to the lncouio
tivo, rind the foundation f all the
wealth of the world, when further
consid-r th vast amount of thought
ami btudy dvoti'd to it, threia ur
rhe thar. the sum of knotrisd ou
V i.- tikj ct is ao s;u!",U, and that it has
ncn used to slowly. -Thw saes of to
day do but echo the wisdom of ;h
t.-.t'.- of antiquity. The principles of
Mio-tees in tilling the oi), must l?ave
Lei-n discovered very early iu the life
of the mc?. There was bread before
there wore b jok.-:. Men wors eaters
before they were readers. Thy were
rictical furmeri before they wore ag
ricultural speeob uiwkrs. The mot
tuat such speech makers can now do is
to preach aid teach the principles
which other men have discevcred and
applied, and asked people to obsotve
and do them with idl thwir might.
There are doubtless many truths in
respect to agriculture that remibi to
be discovered and applied. Nature is
iuexhaustable sind does not favor mo
nopoly of her secrets to any. Mau are
so nearly on a level that no one of them
can properly claim any discovery as
exclusively his. Here as elsewhere,
nature is never partial or exclusive.
Her revelations ate opea to all alike.
Most that has been done in modern
times, in the matter of tilling the soil
to advantage has ben the application
of new infereaces from old and well
knowu principles and the same of
implements. The plow of to-day is
simply an improvement upon the plow
of a thousand years ago.
Like many other good and useful
things, the plow, the king of aaricuN
tural implem&nts, comes to us all the
way from Africa. The Egyptians
knew the plow pefere the white race
was knowa to history. Their sense of
its value is shown by their deiricatien
of its invemtor as was done iu Egypt.
Deep plowing, under draining and
thorough pulverization of the soil, so
earnestly iusisted upon of late years,
were known ia the east mora thaa two
theusand years ago.
SMALL FARMS.
Much has been said of lata in favor
of small farms. They are said to be
conducive to general prosperity, but
the gmall farm theory, by which a man
may double the number of his acres or
make one acre equal to two, a theory
by which tae late Horace Greeley
coupled kis name and fame with agri
culture so honorably, is by no means
new or original with him. The an
cients held and advocated the selfsame
idea The philosophy too, of keeping
the soil in good condition, was under
stood in the earliest dawn of history.
It was known that the soil must be fed
as well at fed upoa.
China knew this when Britain was a
wilderness and America unknown.
We make mouths at the Celestials snd
persecute tkem now, bt they were
far advanced in civilization, understood
well the laws of fertilization, when
western Europe was groping in the
midnight darkness of barbarism. Gar
dens in China which have been culti
vated, from generation to generation,
for thousands of years, are still rick
and fruitful.
Perhaps I cannot do better at tbis
point, before leaving small farms, than
to say a word or two upon their advan
tage ia our case. Out people are poor,
large farms are impossible to us, and
what was wisdom to the ancient Ro
mans is both wisdom and necessity to
us. We can only get possession of land
in small quantities and it should there
fore, be our study how to make the
best of the little we do get, kow to
make one acre count two in the matUr
of productiveness.
The law in the case is easily compre
hended. Its chief element is tune.
Time is money, and whatever savsa
time saves labor and money, and mon
ey is only stored labor, and has only
thw value and purchasing power which
labor gives it. Every dollar that a man
lavs by, represents a certaiu amount of
labor performed and stored away, for
a time of need. If bis wages are a dol
lar a day, and be has a hundred dollars
he has just on huadre-d days work
done add stored away. If overtaken
by sickness or acoident he has a hun
dred days in which to get well, and is
able to work again. The principle to
be remembered is, that whatsover saves
time saves money, and whatsoever
saves the needless expenditure of
thought, saves ability for useful labor.
Now all kiiow, that more time and
streujjth are required te travel two
miles than one, to walk, work, dress
and p!o77 over two acres thau one acre,
and n' wo gel out cf 01 acre a j much
products as out "of two, we have got
thxx aud more too, for we h?ve aved a
large amount cf extra time and
strugth.
If called upon to choose between one
rich acre of ground aud two pior ones,
all other things baiug equal, I should
in every instance, prefer the one acre
rich to the two acres poor. We have
twice bs much walking, plowing and
hoeing to do in the one casa as in the
other, while we rsach only the earns
results.
The same reasoning applies equally
well iu othar directious. Take for in
stance the trade iu timber. North
Carolina is not only a tar producing
State, but a timber growiug State.
Now it takes just as many hands and
just as much time to handle an inferior
piece of timber as it does to handle a
superior piece of timber, while you
only get iu exchange half as much
money for the one as for the other.
This idea is capable of indefinite appli
cation. It applies to every form of ia.
dustry and teaches th? lesson whieh
we cannot repeat too often, that wkat
ever is worts doing at ax,l. is worth
doing well. It is always better to
produce a superior article and get a
high price for it than an inferior one
and get a low price for it. Hence also
it is better to buy a good article, cne
that will endure longer and srve bet
ter than t buy a cbeap artiole, which
will soon wear out and oonstautly chs
for repair when in use, which wdl causes
you long hours of time and labor in re
placing it. This applies especia'lt t
the purchase of agricultural au i othsr
implements. Then about th? care of
tools, much could be said hero. It li
fair to assume that about one-t -n .h of
all the timo of some farmers is w3te-d
in searching for and mending tools
which have been carelessly flung down
anywhere and everywhere, abandoned
to rust, decay aod destruction.
I have seen in some of our Western
States, amid the snows and rains of
winter, costly plows, cultivators, mow
ing machines exposed to all the de
structive foroes of the weather. Men
who farm thus bring trouble upon
themselves and discredit upoa agricul
ture and make their own lives a bur
den. The loss of time, labor and
money by this careless style of farm
ing is not the only evil. It is about a
much of a loss of time and temper.
The mental confusion which comes of
this will do more damage to a man
than the steadiest and heaviest strokes
of well directed and oven tempered
exertion.
No where more than on the fsrm
should everything be kept in its place. t
A man should know just wkere ha caa
pul his hand on the implement be may
wish at the moment t ue whether
that shall be a spadf, a rake or a hoe.
L spoakiugof what may be called the
smaller econioiie of the farm, I want
to sny a word fr the wood pile and
the we'l I th:nk there cau be bo
happy home, r successful farmiu,
where the won pile aad the well are
neglected When the wife smiles and
the children arn gleeful and happy, the
toils and burdn s of the husbandman
are liht and ea i y borne. Everything
therefore which tends to make home
happy is in the direct l ne of a wise
eeonomy. Where a woman 14 com
pelled to go a half a mile in the woods'
iu search of brush or rotten b irk, to
make the kettle boil, and a quarter of
a mile to the spring iu all weather to
fetch water, it is impossible for house
hold affairs to go in smoothly. The?e
should always boa good supply of dry
wood withiu e.sy reach of the house
keeper and a well of sweet water at the
door. If these are not supplied and
you come burnt tirtd aod huDgry from
the ii-dd, if your house is not ueat and
in order, if the chimney smokts, if tho
ey s of jour wife aud daughters are
red aud their tempers uaaruable, aud
i to crown all your aininr is uov ready,
you have, in fact, only yourself tu
blamo for it. With an ample quantity
of sound, well seaOLed wood ai the
door and a wdl of water near at hand,
you Lao complied with primary arid
important conditions of peae, o infjrt
anu good order m your household.
A WOCD OV MAS CUES.
I have already hinted at the uecessi
ty of feeding the soil as we'll as feediug
ourselves. Successful fanning dows
not entirely depend upon deep plowing
and skihtul hoeing, nor upoa prompt
I attention to neod time aud harvest.
Ev?iy orop gathered from the Held
takes something valuubla from the soil
which should bj promptly replaced, if
it can be. The neh. st land in the world
ca.i be mad j poor if in our greed, we
take cverytuin fvoui it ntd tive it
nothing iu retu.n. While piovidiog
for ourselves, oar next best thought is
how to husband the iesoU'C.s at our
command for re-iioriiij to tho soil
feotnethiag iu return for what we re
ceive from the soil. All flash is grass.
The amouut of vegitable matter we ob
tain from the earth is the measure of
the well-being aad happ nessof animl
l'f.3 and of aim's life m common witW
all animal life.
WORN OUT LA.NDS.
We hear a grrat deil about worn out
lauds, aud of the necessity of leaving
such lands and plautiug ourselves upon
virgin swil. In our earlier history it
was thought inevitable that land
should wear out This was ispeei illy
so in the Southern fckat?s The better
op niou of to-day however, is that there
need be no such thing as worn out
land.
I have recent'y visitid my nUive
country and saw this opinion s istia;d
in the State of Maryland. I was
agrectb'y surprised to rind that field s
which fifty years ago were given up as
hopelessly wo.thWs, supposed to ho
oniy capable of producing swdge grass
and mu 1 n, are noiv bearing rich hir
vests of wheat and corn. S uce the
abilitnnof slavery iu Maryland, men
from the free Stages have mored itto
my native couuty and by a wise appli
Oiti ja of f .Ttdizers and a skillful cuK
tivation, they h.tve reclaimed and en
riched the o d waste places and made
them blossom like the ros.
The 6rt p.iuciple of the practical
farmor should be: Lei noUdag bs was
ted. For nothing that win decay in
1 the ground is useless, and nothing
saouid be allowed to waste itself. Ev
erything that can be should be utilized.
i The very soap and water employed ra
washing your hinds and cl thes should
find their way to your ttimly kept bed
of compost. The bones from your ta
ble should be made to do double duty.
The soil of England is richer and yields
better crops t -day than It did two
hundred years ago. They who food the
soil will themselves be fed. They who
starve the soil will themselves be
starved.
To be a successful farmer one) moat
read as well as work. I cannot too
strongly advise the reading of agricul
tural pspers. They are the repositories
of the best knowledge on the subject.
Nobody caa keep abreast with tke
times without this knowledge. Musel
is important but mi ad is more irupoi
tant. Iu farming as elsewhere, know
edge is power. There is no work i
the world which men aro requird t
perform which they cannot per fori
better aud more economically with ed
uoation than without it. The troubl
with us as a people, has been, that w
have worked without a knowledge
the theory of work. We build ship
but are not draftsmen, we bu Id houie
but aro not architects, we sail vessel
but know nothiug of navigatios. W.
cast the article, but do not make tht
mould. Heietcfore we hve been situ
ply muscle for the white man's brain
We have worked by note, not by in
graiued knowledge, by memory, not bj
rellectiou.
1 atu not taking blame to ouraelve
or reproach any Ixxly. The fault is no
ours. It belongs to the unfr'endl
ciicuui6tances which have surroimdeC
us iu the dark past from wbich we ar
now etuetfc'ing. Under the old regime
wi were not expected to think but tc
work. We were not to do as wi
thought, but as wo were told. Wi
were not allowed even to profit by our
owu experience as workmen, and ut
things iu the easiest and best way
pointed by cur practical knowledge.
The negro t:u.k the blow, but th:
master and the ovr!-e;r dirpetrd th
arm. We wre but human inaohiuea
operated under the lash and atiag of
siavcry.
Hut let the dead piut bury i tie ad.
We l;ve to-day uodsr new conditions.
Vre iiust now say, as Kosseth said of
the bayoueta of Eastern Europe, our
iudustry must think. The reading of
agricultural books aud paper? bring us
the latest and beat iniprov'inuts
brought to sight by thoughts aud ex
perience. ' It must bo no longer said of us, as in
the old tiute, "if you want to keep a
secret from a negro put it into a book
or a newspaper." Every colored me
chanic and farmer should take and read
one or mere of the papers of the day.
If you cannot read yourself let your
son or daughter read lo you.
Depend upou it an hour spent thus,
every day, will bean hour of prolt and
not of loss. Muscle is mighty but
mind is mightier and thre is bo better
held for its exercise thn the field
from which you expect to jet yoar
d lily bread.
NATUAAL ENEMIES TO THE
I shall not stop kere to enquire into
theoiiginof evil in the world, or fli
the blame upon th-5 brow of its autkor.
I do not know whether it was Adam
Eve or the Serpent, and for that matte 1
I do not care. It is enough to kaon
that we have it and have It in abun
dane?. Tke business of lifo is to make
war upon it and do tho best wo caa to
get rid of it. The farmer's life, though
peaceful, is nevertheless a lifo of war.
He has to contend with tho vary ele
ments, and take advantage of them and
ward off their destructive power. Ho
has to light au ever-recruiting army of
weeds, briars aud thorns, besides an
army of bugs, worms and inseota, of
all sons and sizes. No matter what
the crop may be, there is an enemy,
crawling on the earth, or iying in tho
air, ready to destroy it, and tho hug
baa din an must tight or die kill or
be killed.
Iu dealing with thestt eneeaiet I have
to say that not au hour ekould be lost.
They must be attacked without delay.
A single day may decide tho fate of
your crop. The price of liberty ia
eternal viilaccn, aud the same is true
of success ia any trarie or ealliag and
especially is it true of suoceaaful tillics;
the soil. We should make war upon
our eaomiea while they are in their
efcgs No labor should be spared, no
means negleoted in this fight. The
warrior on tho battle ield uses the tele
scope to discover the movements of tke
enemy. The farmer should use the
microscope to discover the manners and
movements of his. With a little expe
rience in the use of this instrument, be
can in many cases anticipate hi foe
and strike beforo ho is struck. He
akould go further than the microaoope
can carry him, and not only raake war
upon the eggs of tke iaseets, but upon
tho conditions uuder which they are
hatched into life. Like moat of tho
ills that flesh is heir to, the farmeiV
enemies are overturned ana' fostered
CONTINUED ON FOURTH PAGE.